Completely OT - Do you have wood laminate floors? THANKS!!

Status
Not open for further replies.
Doug N Libby

Doug N Libby

Member Since 2012
I know that sounds completely OT, but it IS kitty related. Doug is renovating our kitchen/dining room and is putting down wood laminate flooring. I've been doing some reading online (to see what he's gotten me into) and the more I read, the more of a commitment it seems like...

I've read:
'Don't let it get too wet.' ...'Clean up water/spills immediately or it'll ruin your floor.'
'Keep your pet's nails trimmed or they'll scratch up the floor.'
'Use sliders/rugs under furniture so you don't scratch the floor.'
'Don't slide anything on the floor or you'll scratch it.'

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Now, I'm paranoid about the cat's slinging their food (as they've become fond of doing :roll: ) and hairballs (What if I'm not here or asleep and can't clean it up 'immediately?') and sliding my chair to the table (We have sliders on the chairs already and Doug does NOT want to use rugs.) and how to disinfect the floor (I have a Shark steam mop that Doug says I can use, but I'm thinking the steam may be considered too wet.) and...

So, I'd love to hear from a kitty someone actually living with wood laminate flooring to learn more about what I'm REALLY getting into.

THANK YOU!!!!!!

Libby (& Hershey, too!)
 
Re: Completely OT - Do you have wood laminate floors?

I've got both.
I've got hardwood floors for most of the house and then our dining room/living room is laminate. We have a big rug between the couches/chairs in the living room part. There are no
lines from the edge of the rug. ( so the rug isn't leaving marks)


I would call our laminate the equivalent of pergo although I think it's Bruce.
We've lived here about 6 years ( previous people put it in)

I haven't ever poured water on it and left it....but
we did go thru two puppies... and we always got to any puddles before they sat too long...

dont really see scratches on it from two dogs and Shadow who has her claws. So it holds up fairly well... as well as the hardwood floors.

We did have one of the dogs have an accident a week ago ( bowel explosion) and she went behind the dining room table so it was there all day before I saw it.
It cleaned up well. No sign of it, no stain.... it just washed right off with the floor cleaner.

and there are occasional hairballs... which clean up fine.

I would agree about being careful dragging furniture.
Although my dining room chairs don't leave marks and they don't have any protective caps under them.... they are just bare wood.
And you shouldn't use the steamer on it, just the laminate floor cleaner with a terri cloth mop cover from Bona should be all you need.


I would recommend looking for reviews on whatever brand, floor he is choosing to see if anyone else leaves comments, ( even amazon might have a review) since
there are some brands that are much better than others. And it's worth it to pick the better brands, I've seen other houses with Pergo in it and it wears out.

We do intend on replacing the laminate we have with real hardwood floors when we can. We don't like the look of fake wood ourselves but it was practically new when we bought
the house so we aren't going to replace it until it needs it.
 
Re: Completely OT - Do you have wood laminate floors?

I've got a type of laminate that will allow up to 3 refinishes. It does scratch -- but so does hardwood. Like Rhiannon, I don't deliberately let spills sit. I don't think this is any different than hardwood. Water will cause hardwood to warp. For all practical purposes, I don't think it's that much different than hardwood floors.
 
Re: Completely OT - Do you have wood laminate floors?

Half our house has wood floors, the other half has laminate flooring (from Costco, I think 'Harmony' brand or something like that). We have 2 kitties plus one huge dog with longish-claws, all animals are inside 99% of the time. Our floors look great. The wood flooring has some scratches, but you really have to look for them, and it's much older flooring than the laminate (which looks like new, even though we installed it several years ago). We sometimes find little spills, mostly water that has dripped from our drooler's mouth on the laminate and have no idea how long they've been sitting there, but so far no visible damage done. I remember someone recommending NOT installing laminate in watery areas such as kitchen, bathroom, laundry, due to potential water damage, so we have linoleum in those rooms. The linoleum looks more scratched-up than our other floors. Like Rhiannon, I love the easy clean-up of the laminate floors.
 
Re: Completely OT - Do you have wood laminate floors?

Hi you!! Moonie(GA) and her brother lived for many many years with laminate floors and they were great..
We never had a problem & they cleaned well...The cats never scratched ours!
Hope all is well with you, we are Home finally & Happy--Hugs & Love from us!! No no new animals yet! :lol:
 
Re: Completely OT - Do you have wood laminate floors?

Our flooring is Shaw. We went with laminate so Doug could install it himself.

Hey, Rhiannon - Thanks for posting. I was thinking the steam mop was a no, disappointing because I love it! I did read that you could a vinegar/water solution on it with a damp mop. Guess I need to make sure I buy a new mop before we get that far into the project.

Hey, Sienne - Thanks for responding. Yeah, from what I was reading it sounded like water damage is much the same for laminate or hard wood. But, I remember us being pretty rough on my grandma's hard wood floors! I'm not planning to let spills set, if I know about them, but fairly often I think our boys wait until we go to bed to leave us presents. :roll: And, the slopping of the food...I don't know what made Hershey start doing that...I think Oreo does it because he eats so vigorously! Looking for mats now...

Hey, Josie - Thanks for your input. Yeah, I was wondering about drooling, too. Sometimes Hershey drools, I don't know why. I was thinking linoleum in the kitchen initially, but next year we're planning to take down a wall and open up the kitchen/dining room/living room and Doug wanted the same flooring across the house. I'm not sold on the laminate (as opposed to the carpet I had chosen for the living room) so I'm glad it's going in the kitchen/dining room first so I can see if I can handle it in the living room, too. Of course, the laminate should be better for our allergies/asthma than the carpet, but I do like carpet...

Hey, Roni - So good to hear from you!! Glad to hear about the flooring standing up to your kitties. Our linoleum lived a full life of 25 years as we raised 3 kids and 3 kitties. Our newest normal will be 2 kitties and 2 college students, plus Doug and me. Jessica keeps oohing and aahing at the DCIN photos on facebook, but I KNOW we have all we can handle right now! Doug was released to go back to work with instructions to 'take it easy 3 - 4 more weeks.' This is week 3 and he's almost finished building the pantry. Clearly, Doug has his own definition of 'taking it easy.' ;-) Hugs and Love back at ya'! I think of you often and hope each day is a little easier than the last. You have so much love to give that I'm sure a new baby will snag you soon! :-D :-D



THANKS, AGAIN, Y'all!!!!! I really appreciate y'all responding and sharing your experiences! I hope y'all are well and having a wonderful day!
 
Re: Completely OT - Do you have wood laminate floors?

Hello,

I have laminate flooring in half the house and carpet in the other half of the house. My Lucy who is 3 years old will take off running from the carpet and slide clear across the laminate with all her claws out(all four paws). She has never put a scratch in it yet.
Oh, and don`t worry when the cats need to throw up they always run right to the carpet no matter where on the laminate they seem to be located. :roll:
I have had water drip from my plants onto the floor and lay there awhile before I noticed it and had no damage whatsoever. If you don`t mind mopping a bit laminate is the way to go. Yes Bona seems to work about the best for cleaning it and I bought mine at Lowes.

Terri
 
Re: Completely OT - Do you have wood laminate floors?

Thanks, Terri - And, I hear ya' on the puking on the carpet instead of where it's easier to clean up. Kind that way, aren't they? Last night, Oreo blessed the carpet AND the desk chair. Doug was quite amused. NOT! Since the only carpet they'll have access to after the living room renovation is in my bedroom, guess I'd better get used to watching where I walk in there!


Y'all are SUCH a wonderful resource!! :-D :-D :-D
 
Re: Completely OT - Do you have wood laminate floors?

we have engineered hardwood flooring and tile in our condo.

we got rid of the carpet years ago....but as Rocket and Comet aged they developed some difficulty with walking on the hardwood floors so we had to add area rugs for them both and when Rocket passed we noticed Comet was having a hard time walking on the floor so we added more area rugs :sad: I guess in a way it's keeping the floor protected but we are not truly enjoying the floors.....it's a small sacrifice for Comet's well-being

for those of you who don't know who Comet is....he is our almost 16 yr old dog
 
Re: Completely OT - Do you have wood laminate floors?

Hey, Claudia - Thanks for the heads-up about kitty traction. I guess area rugs might have to happen at some point, even though Doug really doesn't want them. Sure can't have the kitties not able to walk around!
 
Re: Completely OT - Do you have wood laminate floors?

I have both pre-finished hardwood like Sienne's (can be refinished three times), laminates AND the newest vinyl floating tile floors. They're several different brands. Some of them actually say 'waterproof' while others say don't put them in damp places. I haven't had a problem with any of them scratching or having issues with 'animal gifts'....)) We do have area rugs in places that need traction for jumping such as right in front of the fuzzy feetz fort in front of the window, in front of the stove, the kitchen sink. I DO find I need rubber backed rugs tho'. My actual golden oak hardwood and one of the golden oak laminates looks a LOT alike. I also installed a wideboard laminate in a house we restored back in 2004, 2400 square feet of it. I happened to talk to the new owners not long ago, it's still just as nice as the day we put it down even with 4 kids running all over it for years. This includes the kitchen too!

GOOD LUCK!
 
Re: Completely OT - Do you have wood laminate floors?

We don't have it , but my bonsai club meed at a community center w/ laminate flooring. Soil and grit that gets spilled during workshops and demos, and people walk on it and I haven't seen any damage to it!
 
Re: Completely OT - Do you have wood laminate floors?

Thanks, Lyresa and Ann. I feel much more informed about what I'm getting into, thanks to all of the responses! Now, I'm just ready for the project to be completed! I'm SURE that's Doug's wish, too!!
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top